How to Bring AI to Your Company (According to OpenAI)

AI is accelerating on every front. Intelligence has grown 5.6x since 2022 while costs dropped 280x. Adoption is happening 4x faster than desktop internet. Yet many leaders feel overwhelmed by the pace.

Why it matters: Early adopters are already growing revenue 1.5x faster than peers, but nearly half of employees lack the training and support to confidently use AI. Companies need structure to capture value without losing control.

The big picture: Drawing from partnerships with Estée Lauder, Notion, San Antonio Spurs, and BBVA, OpenAI has identified five principles that separate AI winners from strugglers.

The Framework: Align, Activate, Amplify, Accelerate, Govern

The gist: OpenAI says to apply this sequential 5-step approach to transform your organization from AI experimentation to competitive advantage.

Step 1: Align - Build Company-Wide AI Vision

Create organizational clarity on AI's strategic importance.

• Executive storytelling: Be specific about why AI adoption is key to your company's future
• Set measurable goals: Define company-wide AI adoption targets (Moderna's CEO expects employees to use ChatGPT 20 times daily)
• Leader role-modeling: Have executives regularly share how they use AI in their roles

Step 2: Activate - Enable and Motivate Teams

Give employees skills and confidence to use AI effectively.

• Structured training: Embed AI skills development into daily workflows, not separate initiatives
• Champions network: Train passionate employees as internal AI mentors
• Routine experimentation: Dedicate first Friday of each month for AI exploration

The San Antonio Spurs boosted AI fluency from 14% to 85% by embedding training into the flow of work.

Step 3: Amplify - Scale Wins Across Organization

Turn scattered successes into shared knowledge.

• Centralized hub: Build a single location for AI resources, policies, and best practices
• Success stories: Share monthly wins through newsletters and all-hands meetings
• Active communities: Establish Slack or Teams groups for peer-to-peer learning

Step 4: Accelerate - Remove Friction and Speed Innovation

Enable ideas to move quickly from pilot to production.

• Unblock access: Remove weeks-long approval processes for basic AI tools and data
• Clear intake process: Create simple ways for teams to submit and prioritize AI projects
• Cross-functional council: Establish executive-sponsored group to fast-track high-potential initiatives

Estée Lauder's centralized GPT Lab gathered over 1,000 employee ideas and scaled the most impactful use cases. BBVA's central AI network helps projects move from proof-of-concept to production faster.

Step 5: Govern - Balance Speed with Responsibility

Create clear safeguards that enable fast decision-making.

• Simple playbook: Document "safe to try" guidelines vs. what requires escalation
• Regular reviews: Conduct quarterly audits of AI systems and governance protocols
• Practical guidelines: Focus on protecting business while enabling teams to move fast

Pro tips:

• Link AI engagement directly to performance evaluations and career growth
• Track usage to identify high-performing teams for additional investment
• Use custom GPTs with your governance playbook for instant policy questions

Leadership Quick Checklist

• Executive team actively shares their AI use cases
• Company-wide AI adoption goal is set and tracked
• AI skills training is embedded in daily workflow
• Success stories are shared monthly across organization
• Clear process exists for teams to submit and prioritize AI projects
• "Safe to try" guidelines enable fast decision-making

Bottom Line

What's next: Start with alignment. Define your company's AI vision and set measurable adoption goals within the next 30 days. Implement the framework sequentially over 90-day cycles, building on each principle.

The companies that apply these principles with focus and discipline will move beyond experimentation to business impact, building resilience and competitive advantage in a world where AI progress never slows.

Personal Take

From a personal standpoint, much of this guide has implied emphasis on bring AI Assistants, not AI Agents, the workplace. So while the material undoubtedly provides valuable insight for enterprise AI adoption, it is imperative to shift viewing AI as an information provider (Assistant) to recognizing it as an autonomous task executor (Agent).

Why this matters: AI Agents are the direction & future of AI. Enterprises that recognize the need to implement agents in parallel to assistants stand to gain the most ROI in both the short-term and long-term.

Read more about AI Agents here.

Source

OpenAI "Staying ahead in the age of AI: A leadership guide" - featuring insights from Estée Lauder, Notion, San Antonio Spurs, BBVA, Moderna, and other enterprise partners*

Reach to Us

At Inkeep, empowerment is a core brand pillar. We believe that we've entered an age where the phrase "we did" overcomes "we should", thanks to AI Agents.

Our vision is to make multi-agent creation accessible to all across an enterprise — with no-code in an interoperable fashion with a pro-code approach so business teams can work side-by-side with their engineering teams.

Built Your Way: Visual Builder Meets Developer Power

For business teams: Inkeep’s Visual Builder makes sophisticated multi-agent systems accessible without code. CX managers can create, test, and deploy agent workflows in minutes, not months.

For technical teams: Inkeeps’s full-stack TypeScript SDK, UI Kit, MCP integration, and RAG framework enable deep customization while maintaining the visual overview that business stakeholders need.